Cape Keraudren
Cape Keraudren took the cake for desolate camp sites, but the coast was quite remarkable. We found a spot on the cliffs near the end of the Cape, right where the rabbit proof frence reaches its northern most point. The fence footing is still visible as a finger of concrete that stretches out into the tidal zone. Caravans cluster all along the coast of the Cape, all after big fish and sea views. No one came for the swimming, not on the fringe of croc territory. We were hugely impressed to see big dark shapes in the water as we arrived and through the binoculars discovered they were manta rays feeding just off the rocky shore. Hoovering back and fourth as the tide retreated, they were incredible to watch.
We spent three nights on our cliff top perch enjoying a slow pace and good internet access which allowed us to do a bit of forward planning for the Gibb, and to book flights for Matthias' Mum! Brigitte will be joining us in Darwin for our NT leg of the trip and our return to Adelaide down the centre. It will be a squeeze in the car but exciting to have her travelling with us after a two and a half year absence - she'll meet Claire for the first time.
The tidal flats and rock pools at low tide were home to all sorts of alien creatures and kept us entertained for hours. Most impressive were the contortionist octopuses which could squeeze their plasticine bodies into the tiniest places or fan themselves out like tropical flowers, hunting for food in centimetre deep water. The baby giant clams had us in fits of laughter as they squirted water at us. The coral gardens that existed in some of the rock pools, sometimes with less than a foot of water, were fit to rival parts of the Ningaloo reef. We spotted moray eel, colourful hard and soft corals, hermit crabs, monkey fish, anenomies, live cowrie shells, all sorts of wierd and wonderful. Luckily no stone fish.
For two nights we dined out on the freshest of fish. Our neighbours who were out every morning in their boat gifted us a big fillet each of Golden Trevally and Spanish Mackerel. Both were superb but the Trevally stole the show.
Our last day was oppressively still and humid which sent the sandflies haywire. We were already covered in bites only to receive another wave of fresh welts which drive the kids nuts at night. We walked the cliffs at high tide and found a small blow hole making creepy breathing noises through the rock. We watched huge schools of fish and a turtle in the stunning bay and learned a thing or two about some of the sea creatures from some Aboriginal kids who were fishing with their family in the shallow pools. Most impressive were the "itchy" crabs. We sampled a few fresh oysters from the rocks. Matthias' claim that they were the best oysters he’d ever had lured me in for a taste. Never again. I seriously don’t understand how anyone can enthusiastically eat those things!
After leaving Cape Keraudren we stopped in at Eighty Mile Beach for a gander. The beach was chock-a-block with 4WDs when we arrived, everyone fishing. But within an hour or two, the tide had receded and we just about had the beach to ourselves. For us non-fishing folk, it was fabulous for *beach combing and looked stunning at low tide with dramatic weather brewing across the great western expanse of ocean.
